Water-insoluble adsorbents are used in the fracturing of hydrocarbon wells in geological formations as proppant components in, e.g., well treatment fluids in which they provide a support matrix within the formation to keep the fracture open and facilitate the flow of well production fluids. One type of water-insoluble adsorbent is activated diatomaceous earth, which is also known as DE, TSS, diatomite, diahydro, kieselguhr, kieselgur or celite (hereinafter “DE”).
Gravel packs are often used to control particulate migration in such producing formations. A gravel pack typically consists of a mass of particulates which are packed around the exterior of a screening device. In order to be useful in gravel packing applications, such particulates must exhibit high strength and be capable of functioning in high permeability formations.
Frac Packs are used in high permeability formations to stimulate high permeability formations where a combination of fracturing treatment is performed ending with packing of the fracture to the wellbore which eliminates the need for screens.
Gravel Pack Screens can also be packed with proppant.
Frequently, the water-insoluble adsorbent-containing fluids injected into the well also include chemical additives (e.g., scale, corrosion, asphaltene or paraffin inhibitors) which impart useful chemical properties to the production fluids coming out of the formation. However, over time, the efficacy of the additives in admixture with the water-insoluble adsorbent of the downhole fluid diminishes, or “plays out,” causing production issues when the chemical attributes imparted by the well treatment additives are critical to efficient well production.
There exists, therefore, a significant and long-felt need for methods to increase the longevity of the chemical performance of water-insoluble adsorbent-containing well treatment fluids.